


things that go bump in the night

by stargazerinlilac



Category: Dangan Ronpa - All Media Types, Dangan Ronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc
Genre: Aged-Up Character(s), Alternate Universe - Non-Despair (Dangan Ronpa), Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Cancer scare, Doctors, Established Relationship, F/F, Mild Sexual Content, TW: Illness, lots of thoughts about marriage and how love changes a person
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-13
Updated: 2021-03-13
Packaged: 2021-03-20 22:47:31
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,290
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30012105
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/stargazerinlilac/pseuds/stargazerinlilac
Summary: it is often the littlest things that hurt us the most.or -Celestia and Kyoko, married for 7 years, dated for 3 and known each other since 15, go through a health scare.
Relationships: Kirigiri Kyoko/Celestia Ludenberg
Kudos: 27





	things that go bump in the night

**Author's Note:**

> hi... sorry i haven’t responded to comments, i’m getting to them - thank you to everyone who left one <3 they give me so much life i can’t thank you enough!
> 
> this is a. thing. i crammed out while going through some health things. i am not a medical professional, this is merely based on my experience. and although i don’t think it’s an issue, i would like to say that [spoiler] i am not fetishizing the way her issue was discovered in any way. it was written to show how these things can show up at the most mundane and uncomfortable times. please do not take this in some strange fetish way. this is about life and it’s twists and turns. 
> 
> please tell me if this needs to have an explicit warning rather than mature. 
> 
> i hope you all enjoy!

If anyone were to ask, though Celestia is positive no one would dare, Celestia would definitively answer that she is an expert on Kyoko’s body. Her reactions, her sensitive spots, the curves and form of her. 

She utilizes this knowledge now, teasing and caressing her. Kyoko lightly moans, trying her best to stifle her reactions. But its been a very long day at the police department for her, taxing cases and piles of paperwork, and all Celestia wants to do is help her unwind. 

“Mon cherie,” She starts, voice low and seductive, “Let me help you relax, hm?”

Kyoko nods, consenting to her methods. Its been seven years of this, after all. Their arguments are no joke, and she knows that in the end she will have to relax anyway. 

“Ah, good girl, good girl.” Celestia smiles, reaching up to gently grope and squeeze at her breasts. “My dear, sweet girl.”

She knows this part of her very well, having looked at them quite often as a teenager and later touching them in excess to learn exactly how they feel. 

It never fails to excite her, the way Kyoko squirms and twists and moans under her ministrations. Her touches turn a little harder, and she revels in the reactions she receives. 

Then she notices something, as she touches more and more. There is a lump there. Something not there before. Celestia would know, considering how often she lavishes attention there. 

Her blood runs cold, a striking realization as to what this could possibly mean making her inhale sharply. 

She shakes, minutely, frozen. Thankfully, Kyoko is still a little out of it, and Celestia is able to recover. 

Her mask slips on. “Ah, mon amour, my treasure, why don’t I fulfill my promise from the other day?”

“Ah! And what-uh- promise would that be?” Kyoko stutters out, distracted by the glide of fingertips against her swollen and wet clit. 

“To edge you until you cried your pretty tears.”

She fulfills her promise, of course, but something hard and mean lodges itself behind her heart. Celestia knows when something is wrong, when a player slips a card inside their sleeve. 

Resolving to fix it tomorrow, she focuses on her lovely wife beneath her. 

-

It’s over breakfast that she asks. Kyoko is sat at their lovely little breakfast table, in her purple silk pajamas, drinking some coffee and looking at a newspaper. Its painfully domestic, something neither of them ever would think they could have. 

It breaks her heart to ask and ruin this blissful moment, but Celestia knows not to let an issue like this fester. 

She takes a deep breath, and puts on a kind smile. “Kyoko, love,” She says, gaining an mhm and an angel turning her face. “When was the last time you had your breasts examined? Medically, I mean.”

Kyoko seems to pause, thinking it over. “I think its been about five years now. Why?”

Her eyes widen. Ever so smart, her Kyoko. “Did you- Yesterday?”

Celestia nods. There is no way to make this easier on either of them. “Yes. I’d like to go to your doctor with you today, just for peace of mind.”

She sees Kyoko swallow, her eyes doing their little frantic search around a room when she’s being her logical self. God, Celestia loves her. “Did you find a lump?” She asks, rightfully so. 

“Yes, dear. It very likely may be benign.”

Kyoko nods, thinking this over. “I’ll make the call.” She reaches across the table to take Celestia’s hand, and she grips it with fierce affection. 

-

Her doctor is kind. Celestia likes him, which is rare considering her standards, but he fits the bill of intelligent and takes care of Kyoko so he is a good person in her book. His examination is professional and he is very polite about it. 

“Good job for noticing it,” He says first, with a kind smile, “Catching anything early is often the most important factor in helping patients.”

His smile drops a hint, only perceivable by Celestia’s poker trained instincts. She braces herself; her fear for Kyoko somehow exceeds the fear for herself. Love is a cruel thing, she realized long ago. 

“I’m afraid I can’t tell if it's benign or not. We need to do a scan, as well as a biopsy just to be sure.”

Well, that’s better news at least. A continuation won’t be good on either of their stress levels, but Celestia will help her the whole way. She writes down the scan and biopsy date in her phone, both the notes app and calendar. “Excuse me, Doctor, but is there anything to be done in the meantime? Would rest and stress relief provide any help?”

15 years ago she never would’ve believed she’d be so invested in another human. It was all about her, her childhood, her issues, her talent. Now she sees that she is nothing without Kyoko, that love truly did change her life. 

“Yes, stress in general is bad for her health. If this mass is malignant, stress can definitely worsen her condition.”

Celestia nods, thanking him. Kyoko is still in her tank top, holding her jacket in her hands. She reaches for a gloved hand and squeezes. Kyoko thanks him, and they leave. 

Kyoko doesn’t speak again for the rest of the walk to the car. Celestia does not push her, understanding painfully well how much easier it feels to not speak sometimes. 

“My love,” She says, opening the car door. Typically, Kyoko drives, always enjoying that control. Celestia’s selfishness may have faded over time, turning into a selfishness for the two of them, but her princess habits have not. Right now she is not a princess and Kyoko her knight, she is an adult woman with a possibly sick and obviously shocked wife. She starts the car. 

They drive in quiet for a bit, Kyoko staring blankly ahead. Eventually Kyoko speaks, her voice quiet. “It may be because of work.” 

Celestia doesn’t have to ask for context. “Perhaps. Has it been more stressful lately?”

“It’s never not been stressful. But maybe it piles up.” She frowns. “I don’t know what else I would do though, if I wasn’t a detective. It's me, I’ve done it since I was a teenager.”

Celestia wants to argue so badly, to say that Kyoko Kirigiri is so much more than a detective, she is a wonderful, smart, beautiful, amazing woman who has brought so much quiet joy to her life. But she knows how Kyoko works, and Kyoko works through logic. 

“We don’t need to jump to that conclusion just yet. It's not even confirmed to be bad.”

15 years ago, she would’ve laughed at the thought of being so comforting and kind. Back then, she would’ve laughed in that coquettish way and said a remark about workaholics getting what they deserve. 

What a fool she was. She reaches for that sweet gloved hand. Kyoko grips her tightly, and Celestia lets her take that comfort from her. Take anything you want, she thinks, just don’t leave. 

She parks the car in front of their home, but they remain as they are. “I’m sorry,” Kyoko says, pained. Celestia’s heart breaks. “If it is that. If its work caused or just bad luck. I am sorry in advance.”

Celestia wants to scream and kick and punch at whoever (her family, those bastards) made her believe that neutrality and stoicism and a bunch of bullshit was the way she had to be. 

“You owe me no apologies, not now, not ever.” She tells her, staring into those purple eyes. “I love you more than anything, Kyoko. You are not a burden to me.”

Celestia had expected her to cry eventually, even as the stoic and trained woman she is. It is normal and even better for her to let the emotion out. 

Her bottom lip trembles. “It’s okay to be scared, my love.” Celestia says, “I’ll be here, always.” 

With her promise, Kyoko breaks her mask. Her face scrunches up, her nose turning red. Celestia pulls her to her chest with no hesitation. Her blazer is Chanel and she pays it no mind as her wife cries into the tweed. She runs a hand through her hair, undoing the ribbon holding it together. “My love,” She says again, perhaps just to say it.

“I’m scared.” Kyoko whispers. “I’m not scared of many things. But the thought of what it could be is terrifying me.”

Kyoko is a complex person, a fact Celestia recognized and arguably was attracted to at the beginning. She is a woman who likes logic and puzzles and a clear answer. But she is also undeniably very emotional and sensitive under that mask of hers, and it took time to understand that she prefers logic due to that fact, not that she can’t feel emotion. She feels too much. 

“I know, love. But we’ll get through it, no matter what it is.”

Kyoko whimpers, clutching her tighter. “I wish you didn’t have to- do so much for me. I don’t want to be a burden.”

“Shh,” Celestia whispers, rocking her gently. “You are never a burden. You are the love of my life. Everything I do, I do for you.”

—

The scan is done easily, though of course Celestia still attends and drives her. The biopsy is done with a bit more difficulty, but eventually she is able to leave the office with a bandaid on her chest and her hand in Celestia’s. 

It is the waiting that is the most difficult. 

The question sits unspoken between them, weighing down their days and polluting their nights. 

“Stress may worsen it,” Celestia says, when she finds Kyoko frantically researching those wretched two words. “Please come to bed. You know fully well that you won’t find an answer tonight.”

Kyoko turns and meets her eyes. “I know that. I just want to know every possibility and make a plan.” 

Sighing, Celestia walks over to her desk. She takes a scarred hand and kisses it with no hesitation. “Love, even if it is that, it is still early. You will be fine, I’ll make sure of it.”

There is a time for logic, Celestia knows, its why she knows statistics now, to ease her wife’s mind. But there is a time for other comforts. “You could do treatments here at the house,” She says, truthfully, “Your comfort is my utmost priority.”

Kyoko softens, cupping her cheek and smiling softly in her reserved way. “I am so lucky to have a wife like you. Never would I have thought that it’d be that troublesome gambler, but God am I happy I’m here with you.”

Celestia leans in to kiss her, only pulling back just enough to speak against her soft lips. “Remember, my love, le mien comme je suis le tien.”

-

The doctor has said that as soon as he gets the results back, he’ll call them. Celestia has not seen either hers or Kyoko’s phone die since that announcement.

It is not as bad, as it was, waiting now. Kyoko appears to be less scared now, after her extensive research. Logic has prevailed in her mind, and Celestia has her in her arms at a normal time of night now. 

Now that logic has won, it is time for Celestia to win this round. She is able to negotiate Kyoko’s health leave, both physical and mental, and has her wife to herself for a glorious two weeks. 

“Where do you want to go?” She asks, content while sitting in her wife’s lap. Truly, it is a throne. “You know we can afford anywhere, and I want you to be as happy as you can be.”

Kyoko smiles in that mysterious way of hers, so charming and enticing. “Somewhere with life, maybe. I want to go out with you and I want to hear people. But not too loud and hectic, I think you and I still aren’t like that.”

Celestia thinks, mentally picturing a world map. “Vienna?” She asks, “It is cultural and lively, but not as hectic as it could be. Germanic people do have restraint.”

Kyoko nods. “Will you enjoy it as well?” She asks, silly woman. 

“Anywhere you are, my dear, it is not a question.”

-

It is 3 am in their hotel room in Vienna that Kyoko’s phone rings. Kyoko is never a heavy sleeper and wakes up at the second ring. It takes another ring to process the importance of it, and she quickly grabs it. 

“Hello?” Celestia wakes up now too, her warm pillow (wife) suddenly gone. Her blood runs cold once more, registering the phone call. 

“Mhm. I see.” This is hell, isn’t it. An endless phone call and no indication of an answer to the worst question on Earth. “Thank you very much, Doctor.”

She hangs up, tossing the phone on the floor. 

Celestia is frozen in his pose, half laying half sitting, in her red & black silk pajamas. She feels five years old again. 

“What did he say?” Celestia whispers. 

Kyoko is hunched over, likely tired and processing the information. Celestia’s patience is rapidly running out. 

She is about to reach for that pale shoulder when Kyoko sits up and faces her, crashing into her. She is crying, and laughing(?), hugging her tightly. 

“It’s benign.” Kyoko says, in disbelief. “I’m safe, I’m fine, I’ll live another 60 years with you.”

Celestia feels the blood return to her veins, her jaw unclenching. She hugs her wife back, desperately and so so relieved. Belatedly, Celestia registers that she is crying as well. She does not care for once. 

They sway a little together, like the trees in the Viennese late autumn breeze. It’ll be alright.

**Author's Note:**

> so it all ends well, and they are perhaps a bit better for it. i haven’t written celesgiri in a while, but i do truly care for them. i always found their relationships with emotions so interesting, and i hoped to show how i think kyoko would grow as an adult to be able to keep her more stoic attitude she learned early on but also accept her more emotional side. i also wanted to write about celestia’s relationship with selfishness. she is a selfish character as a teenager, and i think it would be interesting to see if she would also view her ‘indulgence’ with kyoko and her’s relationship as a selfish wish on her part. idk. this is hefty analysis for a vent piece. please don’t hate on it too hard if you don’t like it, as it is rather personal.


End file.
